The Future of Sustainable Drug Delivery: Bacterial Cellulose Nanoparticles
Introduction
Like many industries, the pharmaceutical industry is actively striving to foster sustainable practices. The biopharma sector aims to introduce changes throughout the drug discovery and drug development cycle to reduce its impact on the environment and embed a circular economy.
However, this sector faces many challenges when incorporating circularity in drug delivery devices. For example, drug delivery devices that adopt single-use plastics are highly common because they are convenient, safe, and patient-friendly. Ultimately, ensuring the best outcomes for clinicians and patients is the priority meaning that single-use plastics will continue to be used in drug delivery devices for the time being.
Biodegradable polymers – Bacterial Cellulose Nanoparticles
Despite the challenges, scientists are researching novel drug delivery methods that adopt a more sustainable approach. Sustainable nanomedicine is a growing field aiming to address the challenges of scalability, reproducibility, thermal stability, and excessive waste generation for nanotherapeutic manufacturing.
The nanomedicine market size is predicted to be valued at $597.8 million by 2032. This growth is fuelled by sustained investment in developing novel drug delivery systems and a growing demand for safe and affordable therapeutics.
Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a versatile natural biopolymer that could resolve these issues in the drug delivery space. BC’s biodegradability and biocompatibility are crucial for nanomedicine applications and give them an important edge within the drug delivery landscape. Furthermore, BC nanoparticle formulation has a reduced environmental impact, and an eco-friendly life cycle and can be implemented following green engineering principles.
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A recent study published by the Royal Society of Chemistry investigated the properties of BC nanoparticles and analysed their potential as promising nanotherapeutic platforms. Results showed that BC nanoparticles are thermally stable up to 90˚C. Stability tests demonstrated that there were no changes in particle size when storing the BC nanoparticles at room temperature for up to five months. This implies that cold-chain storage and distribution are not necessary to maintain their stability.
Although initial findings are promising, some complications must be tackled to fully realise the potential of this technology: the high cost of materials makes the upscaling of BC production unfeasible. Moreover, the high energy expenditure required to maintain optimal growth conditions is not sustainable in the long-term. Finally, BC nanoparticles’ application for long circulation times and deep tissue penetration is limited due to their size.
Conclusion
BC nanoparticles hold promise for sustainable drug delivery, offering advantages such as biodegradability, biocompatibility, and thermal stability. These properties align with the goals of reducing environmental impact and embracing green engineering in the pharmaceutical sector. However, further research around lowering material costs, improving the scalability of BC nanoparticle production, and optimising their size for better longer circulation times must be conducted to leverage this nanotechnology.
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